I know that the heart of a school is the teaching staff. Nothing is more important to a principal than having top-notch, talented, well-educated teachers in every classroom.

   On June 11, the U.S. Department of Education issued a troubling report on teacher quality, Meeting the Highly Qualified Teachers Challenge. It is important that our affiliates and members know about this because the Department will beworking directly with states on this issue.

   In a nutshell the Department's report says teacher preparation programs are failing. We, and many of our colleagues in Washington, disagree. The report calls upon states to lower "barriers" and revamp licensing requirements to greatly reduce the number of teacher preparation requirements.

   It advocates eliminating "massive numbers of methods courses" and "excessive numbers of pedagogy or education theory" requirements and replacing them with a background check and a test of content knowledge.

   The report gives strong support for deregulation and alternative methods of teacher certification, stating that there is no evidence that lengthy preparation programs train teachers any better than streamlined programs that quickly get talented teachers into the classroom. This is an astonishing document issued from the nation's cabinet-level educator.

   I want you to know that NAESP stands squarely behind strong teacher preparation programs. We face a severe teacher shortage, but it cannot be solved with this quick fix mentality by hiring what some of our colleagues call "Taco Bell" educators, i.e., if you can manage a Taco Bell, you can manage a school. However, we remain open to high-quality alternative methods of training teachers.

   The bottom line is that no matter how well educated, how experienced, and how intelligent an aspiring teacher might be, without a solid background in child and adolescent development and knowledge of how children learn, and without that incredible ability to inspire and interest children, a teacher won't succeed. This takes preparation and training. We believe that most teacher preparation programs graduate teachers who meet today's state licensing requirements. We also believe that teacher candidates, especially those at professionally accredited institutions, are doing a commendable job.